How to sell a Honda S2000

Selling my s2000 was a really unpleasant experience. I had at least two buyers that seemed to fit a certain personality type that I will attempt to describe. Consider yourself forewarned, if you are thinking about selling your S2000. A few people that came to see the car, appreciated it for its beauty, capability and determined that they could not afford it. The others who came, seemed to only find its flaws. They would pick up on nearly imperceptible dings and scratches in the paint. Having done that they’d move on to inspect the top thoroughly for wear marks and tiny tears. Never mind the excellent running condition of the engine, brakes, tires and whatever was right on the car – they looked for all superficial flaws in the car they could find. Then it was as if they’d go into a trance – frantically recalculating the asking price, $500 to fix this tiny ding, $500 to fix the scratch, $1600 for a new top. Their only objective to justify their low offer price and convince me.

A second battery of questions would follow to judge how desperate I was. Why are you selling the car? How much time do you have to sell the car? How long has the car been on the market? Answers to the above would see them slipping into yet another recalculative trance.

As if that were not enough, there’d be a bonus round of questions – and you have to be wary of these. Did you use snow tires in the winter? If you say you did, then you’ll get asked to include them in the package. God forbid, but if you sold them, they will want that amount taken off the price, such is the nature of these buyers. Other questions I’ve answered include: Do you have a hard top? Do you have the convertible top boot? Do you have the old owner’s maintenance records?

One low baller (as I fondly like to call them) wanted the car inspected at 8am on a Saturday. I think the time of day made it hard for me to think straight since I was used to sleeping in. The guy I sold my car to insist that I pay half of the inspection costs ($127), which I didn’t find unreasonable. But then he asked about extra keys on the way to the bank. I said I have them at home and would give them to him when I got back. I was stunned when he asked for $250 to be taken off the price right then and there. His illogical rationale was that he would never see me again after the sale. Finally we agreed upon $125 off until the keys were delivered. It was just another strategy to take more money off the top. I doubt I’ll ever see that $125 for the keys.

Another concern that became apparent soon enough was that certified checks can’t be deposited on a Saturday since that isn’t technically a work week day (bank day?). In essence I gave him two days to basically withdraw all the money from his account after he got my car. At that point I was unsure how true that was, and was worried until the money was fully deposited in my account.

I called the bank eventually and discovered that he could put a stop payment on a certified check until it is fully processed. I was paid on a Saturday at 11am and he has until midnight on Monday night to stop payment. This means I won’t have the money secure in my account until Tuesday morning. Certified checks / Bank checks are not the same as cash. Next time I’ll request a wire transfer instead or just ask for cash.

If you don’t have theft insurance on your car, then it might be a good idea to add it just before a sale in case you get tricked out of your car. Good luck with your sale.

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